Memoirs of Food in My Family

Grain and Other Starchy Food ($15)                                 Condiments ($7)
Spaghetti Pasta, 1 lbs                                                              Liquid Cream, 500 ml
Rotini, 1 lbs                                                                            Red Onion, 2.2 lbs
Brown Rice, 4.4 lbs                                                                Ginger, 0.6 lbs
Potato, 2.2 lbs                                                                         Garlic, 1.1 lbs
                                                                                                Onion, 1.1 lbs
Processed Food ($15)                                                             Salt
Ham, 2 boxes                                                                          Teriyaki Sauce
Sausage, 1 box (20)                                                                 Black Pepper
Minced Bacon, 1 lbs                                                                Oyster Sauce
                                                                                                 Mushroom Flavoring
Seafood/Meat ($80)                                                                 Soy Sauce
Minced Meat, 3.3 lbs                                                                Sweet Soy Sauce
Sirloin Steak, 3.3 lbs                                                                 Sugar
Salmon, 2.2 lbs (8 slices)
Dori fish, 2.2 lbs                                                                       Beverages ($10) 
Crab Meat, 1.1 lbs                                                                    Water, 15 gal
Peeled Shrimp, 2.2 lbs
Sliced Beef, 2.2 lbs
2 Whole Chicken
Eggs, 20

Vegetables/Fruits ($40)
Broccoli, 2.2 lbs

Carrots, 2.2 lbs

Lettuce, 1.1 lbs

Pumpkin

Tofu, 2 box

Spring Onion, 0.6 lbs

Spinach, 0.6 lbs

Chinese Leaves, 1.1 lbs

Tomato, 4.4 lbs

Apple, 6.6 lbs

Orange, 4.4lbs

Kiwi, 4.4 lbs

Grapes, 2.2 lbs                                   

Papaya, 4.4 lbs

Pear, 4.4 lbs

Mango, 6.6 lbs

Pineapple, 4.4lbs

Melon, 2.2 lbs

Watermelon, 3.3 lbs

Banana, 3.3 lbs

Dairy ($10)

Milk, 1.1 Gallons

Cereal, 1.1 lbs 

Greek Yoghurt, 20  

       In Indonesia, the most important thing in a family is spending time together in the dining room for dinner. It has always been a part of my tradition that my parents and I would gather around the dining table at 7 PM and eat a wonderful homemade dinner, cooked by my lovely maid. My parents hate the kitchen, it would be a miracle to make my mom stand in the kitchen for 3 minutes. In fact, we have an air-conditioner in our kitchen because my mom can't stand the heat. Our kitchen is small since we live in an apartment, there's the stove, oven and other essentials. In our small dining table, we have a   hotpot on the table because as an Indonesian family, we love to cook our vegetables and meat on top of a hot pot. We also have a TV in front of the dining table, because my dad loves watching the news while we're eating. During dinner, we usually talk about current events and also share things that happened during the day.
 
      In Indonesia, the tap water is not safe to drink at all. In fact, death caused by drinking tap water in Indonesia is pretty common. Therefore, we buy over 15 gallons of water each week to was our fruits, grains and also for drinking purposes. Rice is a staple food in Indonesia. White rice is the universal grain. However, my mom is an organic-freak and she wants all of us to eat brown rice since it's organic and healthy. Spices are not a big thing in my family, and therefore we have limited and simple spices. For meat, my maid usually grill it with teriyaki sauce. For the salmon, it is a well-known dish in our household to put the salmon in the oven and sear the skin, and finally finish it with a touch of teriyaki sauce. Seafood is very popular in Indonesia, and my family is a big fan of seafood. We like to season our seafood using mushroom flavoring and then we boil all of them in the hotpot. Usually in every meal, my parents try to balance the meat/fish with vegetables. We usually have 1 dish of meat/fish and 1 dish of vegetables. We usually sauté the vegetables with garlic and red onions. It's that simple.

    My family and I is not a big fan of snacks, desserts or processed food. My mom is strict with processed food and we use processed food occasionally, maybe once a week when we cook pasta. We don't eat snacks because we regularly eat fruits in between meals. Fruit is a big part of our daily lives, we consumed nearly 40 lbs of fruits every single week! For breakfast, my mom makes mixed-fruit juices. She really does experiment with a lot of fruits, mixing random fruits together and sometimes it is really nasty. Milk, cereals and greek yoghurt is also a part of our breakfast every single morning.


     Food has always been a big part of our family. If there's a motto to describe my family, we live to eat not eat to live. We love experiencing different types of food because that's how we share our love and joy. Even if I'm 10,000 miles away, I still cherish every single memories that I have in a dining room with my parents. Those are the time where we can let go of our problems, and share our stories while eating a delicious comfort food. I like going to the city once in a while and go to this Indonesian restaurant at the Queens. Those Indonesian comfort food helps me reminisce the precious moments that I've spent with my family every single day. Once in a while, when I call my mom, my mom would just tell stories about her dinner experience with my Dad. She would talk about what my maid cooked for the past few days and that simple story makes me smile. It is remarkable as simple as comfort food is, it is a bridge that connects me with my family.